Train's speed baffles veteran engineers

Video has been released on the crash of an Amtrak train from Grand Rapids, plowing into a freight train on Chicago's South Side on Friday.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Longtime Amtrak engineers say they can't understand why the Pere Marquette was speeding in a restricted zone when it crashed into a freight train, injuring dozens of people and spawning at least one lawsuit.

AP photoVideo has been released on the crash of an Amtrak train from Grand Rapids, plowing into a freight train on Chicago's South Side on Friday.

"Speeding is a cardinal sin, where you will lose your license," said engineer Steven Suhs, who runs Amtrak trains between Chicago and St. Louis.

"The days are long gone where you were 30 minutes late and you did what you could to make up those 30 minutes."

Federal investigators say they're trying to determine why an engineer on the train from Grand Rapids to Chicago was traveling 40 mph on Friday when the speed was restricted to 15 mph.

The Federal Railroad Administration, which is investigating with the National Transportation Safety Board, can issue fines and pull an engineer's license for speeding.

"We are looking at actions of the crew members, interviewing the train crew, looking at actions of the dispatcher, the operation of the signal system," said FRA spokesman Steve Kulm.

The results of that investigation interest a Grandville family, who filed a lawsuit in Chicago on Monday alleging negligence on the part of the passenger line and freight hauler, Norfolk Southern.

REFUND INFORMATION

Amtrak passengers seeking ticket refunds or with medical claims as a result of Friday's train collision near Chicago are urged to contact the company:

For a refund, send to "Customer Relations"; for a medical claim, write to "Claims."

Amtrak caseworkers tried to contact all injured passengers immediately after the crash, said spokesman Marc Magliari. He wouldn't say whether ticket refunds would be given automatically.

"Every one will be dealt with individually," he said.

John Hamstra Sr. was knocked unconscious and suffered a fractured shoulder and concussion when he was thrust forward by the crash, according to his attorney, Thomas Prindable.

Hamstra, 63, was traveling from Grand Rapids to Chicago with his wife, Marcia, daughter-in-law, Bridgett, and three grandchildren for an overnight shopping trip.

"No one's rushing to the bank," Prindable said Monday. "It's an honorable attempt for fair compensation, not a question of millions of dollars."

Prindable said a judge will hear a claim for a protective order today on the evidence obtained during the federal probe. Without that order, the findings would be turned over to the rail companies, he said. He does not expect Amtrak or Norfolk Southern to fight the move.

The Chicago attorney seeks information about the signals, the train's acceleration and the experience of operators.

Passengers said the train was 40 minutes behind schedule when it left Holland, and more than an hour late as it neared Chicago, passengers said.

It had stopped for 10 minutes a short time earlier because gates at a railroad crossing weren't working, passengers said.

Amtrak operates in that area on rails owned by Norfolk Southern Railroad and often is delayed because freight trains take priority.

The train was headed into Chicago when it slowed to 10 mph to cross over to a parallel set of tracks, NTSB officials said.

A Norfolk Southern dispatcher in Dearborn, near Detroit, had switched the train to those tracks and had set a speed limit of 15 mph, a railroad official said.

The speed limit usually is 79 mph. Engineers say dispatchers lower it when they know of potential obstacles on the tracks ahead.

It was the only signal before the crash 1.7 miles away in a crowded rail yard, NTSB officials said.

"Maybe he looked over, got the wrong one," said longtime engineer James R. Ullery, of Valparaiso, who ran the Pere Marquette trip 15 years ago. "You've got to be careful you get the right signal for the right track."

The train's event recorder shows it accelerated to 40 mph after passing the signal.

"I noticed moments before the crash, 'Wow, we usually go through this area so slowly,'" said Diane Kalusniak, of Grand Haven, who rides Amtrak to Chicago several times a year.

Hamstra, the Grandville man who is suing, was checking on a grandchild when the train halted, throwing him forward. He did not hear or feel the train braking, his attorney said. The full extent of his shoulder injury is unknown. Others in his group suffered bumps and bruises.

Amtrak officials attempted to speak with Hamstra about the crash, but he declined on Prindable's advice. Prindable met with the family the day after the crash on a referral from their Grand Rapids attorney.

"They were still confused and discombobulated about it," Prindable said.

Ullery said engineers aren't allowed to accelerate until the back of the train passes a "more favorable signal."

Near Detroit, he said, the rail system automatically engages the brakes if an Amtrak train blows past a warning signal, but that's not the case headed to Chicago.

Just before Friday's impact, the engineer hit the emergency brake, skidding 400 to 500 feet, about 9 seconds, before slamming into the rear of the stopped freight train, federal officials said. At impact, it was traveling 30 to 35 mph.

Kalusniak and other passengers said they did not notice the train braking.

"We were just moving along, then a sudden stop," said Kalusniak, who suffered bumps and bruises when thrown from her seat.

NTSB officials have said the engineer was aware of the 15 mph limit but did not obey it.

Amtrak engineer Richard Kay, of New Buffalo, who still works the Pere Marquette route, said he wasn't working Friday. He refused to speculate on the reason for the crash.

"There's lots of tracks," he said. "It's a very busy area."

Recently retired Amtrak engineer James R. Radomski, who worked in Chicago, said the speed restriction means "you've got to be prepared to stop in the event of a broken rail, an obstruction, a train on the tracks.

"You've really got to be on your toes. You don't go past the 15 mph, and you'd better prepared to stop, just like the rule says.

The rule, he said, "is unforgiving."

"You should always be looking out the (front) window. You don't walk into the back room, you don't leave your control stand. It's just like driving your car."